Nature Moncton Nature News: Aug 12 2016

** Dave Christie comments there was an interesting shorebird display at Mary's Point beach and area with the high tide of Thursday evening. It started off with approximately 500 birds that built up to 1000, then tens of thousands were flying over the bay and some roosting on the shoreline. The PEREGRINE FALCON [Faucon pèlerin] activity seems to be dictating where the shorebirds will be as they appeared to be disturbed from the Shepody side of Mary's Point. Dave comments that the RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS [Colibri à gorge rubis] are much more active for him at the moment from the slow July period; however, he has noted only one adult male, with the majority being female or immature birds.

** Jamie and Karen Burris visited the Turtle Creek area on Wednesday to get some nice photos of a juvenile CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER [Paruline à flancs marron] and a BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER [Paruline à gorge noire]. On Thursday, their backyard Swamp Milkweed patch attracted a CLOUDED SULPHUR BUTTERFLY [Coliade du trèfle], and a RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD [Colibri à gorge rubis] sampled it as well. They also saw two COMMON NIGHTHAWKS [Engoulevent d'Amérique] fly over their home in Riverview at the end of the day. This species will be seen in migration any time now as they are very early migrants, eating their way south and will be seen more during the day.

** Brian Stone shares some nice photos of a TWELVE-SPOTTED SKIMMER DRAGONFLY [La Gracieuse] as well as several butterflies he got in the past few days to include VICEROY [Vice-roi], SILVER-BORDERED FRITILLARY [Boloria à taches argentées], PEARL CRESCENT [Croissant perlé], MUSTARD WHITE [Piéride des crucifères] and a MEADOW FRITILLARY [Boloria des près]. These were taken on a visit to Perth, Ont., but all species present here. The Meadow Fritillary. is much less common here. As well, he got photos of AMERICAN TOAD [Crapaud d'Amérique], BULLFROG [Ouaouaron], LEOPARD FROG [Rana pipiens], a LEECH out of water and a PAINTED TURTLE [Tortue peinte].

** Aldo Dorio got a few nice photos of COMMON WOOD NYMPH BUTTERFLIES [Satyre des près], one nectoring on blooming Sea Lavender on Thursday at Hay Island.

** This Week's Sky-at-a-Glance is added to this transcription, courtesy of Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, August 13 – August 20
Galaxies are favourite targets for many amateur astronomers and many are
visible with just binoculars. Two are easily seen with the naked eye in
the southern hemisphere: the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The
Andromeda Galaxy is a naked-eye blur for rural New Brunswickers and it
looks majestic in binoculars. But there is one galaxy that is
spectacular regardless of your location or observing equipment, and that
is our home galaxy.

The Milky Way is at least 110,000 light years across, and although it is
composed of 200 billion stars we can distinguish only about 4000 as
individual stars from a rural area. The Sun is 27,000 light years from
the galactic core, within a spur between the inner Sagittarius and outer
Perseus spiral arms. When we look above the spout of the Sagittarius
Teapot asterism we are looking toward the galactic core, but vast clouds
of dust hide the stars between the spiral arm and the core. South of the
head of Cygnus the Swan we see the Milky Way split in two by the Great
Rift, one of those dust clouds.

Star formation occurs in clouds of gas and dust within the spiral arms
and some can be seen as bright patches with binoculars. Just above the
spout of the Teapot is M8, the Lagoon Nebula, and a hint of M20, the
Trifid Nebula, can be seen in the same field of view above. Scanning to
the upper left up the Milky Way you encounter M17, the Swan (or Omega)
Nebula; M16, the Eagle Nebula; and star clusters such as M11, the Wild
Duck Cluster in the constellation Scutum the Shield. A tour of the Milky
Way under a dark sky can keep a binocular birder engaged for an evening.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:16 am and sunset will occur at
8:30 pm, giving 14 hours, 14 minutes of daylight (6:23 am and 8:34 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:25 am and set at 8:19
pm, giving 13 hours, 54 minutes of daylight (6:32 am and 8:22 pm in
Saint John).

The full Sturgeon Moon rises near sunset on Thursday. Mercury is at its
greatest elongation from the Sun on Tuesday, about a binocular width
below Jupiter and just over a binocular width left of Venus. Saturn sits
six degrees above the star Antares, with brighter Mars closing the gap
to their right.

There will be public observing at the Irving Nature Park in Saint John
on August 12 (cloud date August 13), starting with a brief talk at 8:30
pm. It is an excellent opportunity to see the Moon, planets, nebulae,
galaxies and star clusters through large telescopes, and we will
probably catch several Perseid meteors.

Questions? Contact me at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton